Idaho camping, day 5

We woke very early and very cold; it dropped below freezing overnight. We were delighted to see deer in the campsite as we laid in bed. A four-point buck and three does, sniffing the ground and snorting. My friend Katherine considers deer to be large rodents but I guess I’m enough of an urbanite to be happy to see them. They came almost close enough to pet, but I resisted cracking a window and offering them food. Instead I just huddled with a cup of hot tea and watched their antics. I was particularly taken but how very still they could freeze when they picked up some subtle sound with their articulated mule ears.

Eventually the deer moved on, and so did we. Camp was packed up and we got on the road to head back into Portland. The assorted forest fires cut the trip a little shorter than we might like. I’d like to make up the time with some shorter trips from PDX, Bagby, Breitenbush, maybe a couple of days at the coast.